"Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud," U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison said. "The Department of Justice will act promptly and aggressively to protect the integrity of the election process."

Garrison announced today that Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Daly has been appointed to serve as the District Election Officer for the Western District of Missouri for the Nov. 6th, 2018, general election. Daly will be working, in connection with the Justice Department's nationwide Election Day Program, to oversee the district's handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses.

Daly will be on duty while the polls are open. He'll respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses and ensure that those complaints are sent to the appropriate authorities. He can be reached by the public at 816-426-3122.

In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day. The FBI’s Kansas City field office can be reached by the public at the toll-free hotline, 855-527-2847.

"Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the cooperation of the American electorate," Garrison said. "It is imperative that those who have specific information about discrimination or election fraud make that information available immediately to my office, the FBI, or the Civil Rights Division."

Garrison says the Department of Justice has an important role in deterring election fraud and discrimination at the polls, and combating these violations whenever and wherever they occur. He adds that the Department’s long-standing Election Day Program furthers these goals, and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open on election day.

The U.S. Attorney's Office states: Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input. It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from acts that intimidate or harass them. For example, actions of persons designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them, under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting may violate federal voting rights law. Further, federal law protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or illiteracy).

Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws also can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington, D.C. by phone at 1-800-253-3931 or (202) 307-2767, by fax at (202) 307-3961, by email to voting.section@usdoj.gov or by complaint form at http://www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake/index.php.

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